HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Riche torches Buffalo for second straight year

Published: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 11:15 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 11:15 p.m.

THE VILLAGES - Once again, Belleview was too much for The Villages to handle thanks to tailback Craig Riche.

One year after torching the Buffalo for 327 all-purpose yards, Riche ran for 191 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries, as the Rattlers earned a 42-27 win over VHS.

"Riche did a great job and he can really cut when he has the football," said Belleview coach Phil Yancey, whose team won its second straight regular season opener. "I don't think he made any mistakes tonight and played a great game."

Belleview scored 21 straight points in the first half and snapped an early 7-all tie on its way to the victory.

"We played a pretty good first half, but we got sloppy in the second," Yancey said. "We were inconsistent, especially on defense.

"We've got to get better there. We missed too many tackles and have to get that corrected."

Riche scored on runs of 25 and 40 yards in the first half, while Paul Maurice added a 33-yard fumble return for the game's first score.

Erik Pitts backed Riche, who had a 72-yard scoring run called back, with 69 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. The junior also went 4-for-7 for 55 yards through the air.

"I thought Pitts played well," Yancey said. "We didn't really need to throw it that much and I was waiting for the defense to put it away for us, so we could get some (reserves) into the game.

"The Villages (0-10 last year) is much improved and I felt they played very hard."

Belleview (1-0), which improved to 6-12 all-time in regular season openers, avenged a 42-0 loss to the Buffalo two years ago at "The Range." During that game, many of the current Rattler seniors were just sophomores and Pitts was a freshman starter at quarterback.

This time, the Rattlers kept the Buffalo just far enough out of reach, thanks to a 240-yard rushing output and the big play ability of Riche and Pitts, who scored on runs of one and three yards.

The Villages, losers of 12 straight games dating back to 2011, did get a strong game from quarterback Ben Mangum, a Lake Weir transfer.

Mangum rushed for four touchdowns and finished the night with 96 yards on 15 carries.

Jabari Jiles added 102 yards on six carries, aided by an 84-yard run, which set up Mangum's two-yard run that came 39 seconds after Maurice's fumble return and knotted things at the 9:01 mark of the first quarter.

From there, Riche scored on a 25-yard run, the first of three straight drives that BHS scored, and the visitors were able to coast the rest of the way.

For the game, the Buffalo rang up 277 yards rushing and ran 55 plays compared to 38 for Belleview.

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